Senate Passes Ban on Sex-selection Abortions

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Senate has approved a bill prohibiting doctors from terminating a pregnancy solely because a woman doesn’t want a baby of a certain gender.

The 37-2 vote Wednesday sent the measure to the House.

The bill makes it a misdemeanor the first time a doctor is convicted of performing a sex-selection abortion and a felony each time afterward. A doctor also could face lawsuits from a patient or family member over such a procedure, but the measure says that women who have such abortions can’t be prosecuted.

There’s no solid data on how many sex-selection abortions are performed in Kansas. Abortion rights supporters contend there’s no evidence of them, but abortion foes believe it’s a growing problem because of more sophisticated prenatal testing.